To enhance the sensitivity of graphene aerogel‐based piezoresistive sensors by weakening their compressive strength while keeping their elasticity, lightweight and lamellar graphene aerogels (LGAs) with high elasticity and satisfactory electrical conductance networks are fabricated by bidirectional‐freezing of aqueous suspensions of graphene oxide in the presence of small amounts of organic solvents, followed by lyophilizing and thermal annealing. Because of the lamellar structure of the LGA, its compressive strength along the direction perpendicular to the lamellar surface is much lower than those of both isotropic and unidirectionally aligned graphene aerogels with similar apparent densities, leading to an ultrasensitive LGA‐based piezoresistive sensor with a high sensitivity of −3.69 kPa−1 and a low detection limit of 0.15 Pa. The ultrahigh sensitivity and low detection limit of LGA‐based piezoresistive sensor contribute to detecting subtle pressure at room temperature and in liquid nitrogen with ability to detect dynamic force frequency and sound vibration. Besides, thanks to the fewer junction points between the graphene lamellae, LGAs slices can be integrated as a wide‐range and sensitive bending sensor, which can detect arbitrary bending angles from 0° to 180° with a low detection limit of 0.29°, and is efficient in detecting biosignals of wrist pulse and finger bending.
As
the global water shortage becomes increasingly serious, it is
highly imperative to develop efficient, renewable, and large-scale
water purification devices. Herein, an efficient solar-driven water
purification device of wood coated with Fe2O3 nanoparticle-decorated carbon nanotubes (Fe2O3/CNT) is fabricated in only a few seconds by one-step combustion
of ferric acetylacetonate in an ambient environment. The thin layer
of the Fe2O3/CNT hybrid coated on the upper
surface of the wood serves as a solar-light absorber for converting
solar energy to thermal energy, while the thermally insulating wood
layer with vertically aligned channels endows the device with rapid
water upward transport and localizes the generated heat inside the
Fe2O3/CNT layer for solar-driven water evaporation.
As a result, the wood/Fe2O3/CNT device achieves
a high water steam generation capability of 1.42 kg m–2 h–1 along with an excellent evaporation efficiency
of 87.2% under 1 sun irradiation, higher than most of the wood-based
solar-driven water evaporation device reported. This device is also
efficient in the purification of seawaters and wastewaters. This work
demonstrates a rapid and facile methodology for large-scale fabrication
of wood/Fe2O3/CNT devices for efficient solar-driven
water purification.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.